IOWA CITY — Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson received a $25,000 check from a high-ranking official in Ron Paul’s presidential campaign days before ditching Michele Bachmann to back Paul, and eventually got $73,000 in suspicious payments that may be linked to Paul’s campaign, an investigator has found.

Sorenson resigned from office Wednesday after investigator Mark Weinhardt concluded Sorenson likely broke ethics rules in receiving $7,500 in monthly income from Bachmann’s political action committee and presidential campaign in exchange for being Bachmann’s state chairman in 2011.

Weinhardt’s 566-page report also suggests Sorenson defected from the Minnesota congresswoman’s campaign days before the January 2012 caucuses after receiving promises of compensation from Paul’s campaign, raising questions about whether criminal or campaign finance laws were violated.

A federal investigation is underway, Sorenson’s attorney said Thursday.

In response to a subpoena, Sorenson turned over an uncashed $25,000 check he said his wife received from Dimitri Kesari, who was Paul’s deputy national campaign manager. The check, from the checkbook of a Virginia jewelry business owned by Kesari’s wife, was dated Dec. 26, 2012, two days before Sorenson joined Paul’s campaign.

Paul, then a Texas congressman, received publicity from Sorenson’s late endorsement before finishing a close third in the first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Kesari gave the check to Sorenson’s wife during a dinner meeting while Sorenson was in the bathroom, Sorenson’s lawyer, Theodore Sporer, said. It was made out to Grassroots Strategy, Inc., a firm owned by Sorenson that was the vehicle for his compensation from Bachmann’s committees. The check was never cashed.

Sorenson, elected to the House in 2008 and the Senate in 2010 to represent districts south of Des Moines, was sought after by Republican presidential campaigns because he was seen as a popular social conservative who would soon run for higher office. Bachmann consultant Guy Short told campaign aides in 2011 Sorenson was “the real deal” and should be hired quickly because, “People are getting bought off,” emails show.

Sorenson’s firm soon started receiving $7,500 monthly from Short’s Colorado firm with funds from Bachmann’s PAC and later her campaign, the report said. Sorenson was the first state elected official to endorse Bachmann and introduced her at Iowa events.

While working for Bachmann, Sorenson rejected offers of payment from Paul’s campaign operatives, Sporer said.

“I don’t know if I would call it a bribe. I think they were trying to hire him,” Sporer said. “Obviously they wanted to induce him to come change sides.”

Sorenson told Fox News before the caucuses that Paul’s campaign “never offered a nickel” for his switch, denying Bachmann’s claim of a payoff.

“With the Kesari check in hand, Senator Sorenson’s statements on national television were simply false,” wrote Weinhardt, who was appointed to investigate a Senate ethics complaint filed against Sorenson by a former Bachmann aide.

Kesari’s wife, Jolanda, who operates Designer Goldsmiths in Leesburg, Va., said Thursday only her husband could answer questions about the check. He didn’t return a message.

Weinhardt’s report found Sorenson’s business received $73,000 in wire transfers in the following months from ICT, Inc., of Hyattsville, Md. The payments suggest that Sorenson received $25,000 upfront and then $8,000 per month for six months — similar to the compensation Sorenson told colleagues the Paul campaign had offered, the report said.

Weinhardt was unable to connect the payments directly or indirectly to Paul’s campaign, but wrote the circumstances create “a strong suspicion” that was the case. He said that ICT is a business associated with documentary filmmaker Noel “Sonny” Izon, who didn’t return a message.

Sorenson denied the ICT payments were connected to Paul during a deposition last month, but gave vague answers about their source. He said that he’d been hired by ICT to do “general consulting both on political and business issues” and seek locations for Iowa video shoots.

Sorenson later invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination to avoid answering further questions. Sporer said that Sorenson quit talking after receiving a federal subpoena seeking records related to his campaign work.

“Once that happens, I’m sure you can appreciate how quickly the desire to speak is muzzled,” he said.

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWednesday, August 27, 2014Former Iowa State Senator Pleads Guilty to Concealing Federal Campaign Expenditures

A former Iowa State Senator pleaded guilty today to concealing payments he received from a presidential campaign in exchange for switching his support and services from one candidate to another and to obstructing a subsequent investigation into his conduct.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting Assistant Director in Charge Timothy A. Gallagher of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.

“An elected official admitted that he accepted under-the-table payments from a campaign committee to secure his support and services for a candidate in the 2012 presidential election,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “Campaign finance reports should be accurate and transparent, not tools for concealing campaign expenditures. Lying by public officials – whether intended to obstruct the FEC or federal investigators – violates the public trust and the law, and the Department of Justice does not tolerate it.”

“Today, Mr. Sorenson has taken responsibility for his crimes,” said Acting Assistant Director in Charge Gallagher. “Exploiting the political process for personal gain will not be tolerated, and we will continue to pursue those who commit such illegal actions.”

Kent Sorenson, 42, of Milo, Iowa, pleaded guilty today to one count of causing a federal campaign committee to falsely report its expenditures to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and one count of obstruction of justice in connection with the concealed expenditures. The guilty plea was taken by Chief Magistrate Judge Celeste F. Bremer of the Southern District of Iowa for later review by Senior District Court Judge Robert W. Pratt. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.

According to a statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Sorenson admitted that he had supported one campaign for the 2012 presidential election, but from October to December 2011, he met and secretly negotiated with a second political campaign to switch his support to that second campaign in exchange for concealed payments that amounted to $73,000. On Dec. 28, 2011, at a political event in Des Moines, Iowa, Sorenson publicly announced his switch of support and work from one candidate to the other.

The payments included monthly installments of approximately $8,000 each and were concealed by transmitting them to a film production company, then through a second company, and finally to Sorenson and his spouse. In response to criticism of his change of support for the candidates, Sorenson gave interviews to the media denying allegations that he was receiving any money from the second campaign committee, and noted that the committee’s FEC filings would show that the committee made no payments to him.

In his plea agreement, Sorenson also admitted that he gave false testimony to an independent counsel appointed at the request of the Iowa Senate Ethics Committee, which was investigating allegations from a former employee of the first presidential campaign. Sorenson testified falsely to the independent counsel about the concealed payments, in part to obstruct investigations that he anticipated by the FBI and FEC .

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, with assistance from the Omaha Field Office and the Des Moines Resident Agency. The case is being prosecuted by Election Crimes Branch Director Richard C. Pilger and Trial Attorney Robert J. Higdon Jr. of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section.

It wasn't Rand's campaign. He's not his father. He isn't even a libertarian. And his father isn't Benton either. Benton has been controversial in the Paul campaign for more than this. He has been suspected and accused of selling Ron out anyway. He's taken a job as a GOP insider working for McConnell. So he's actually one of your "guys" now. You guys are great at guilt by association.

I remember banyon, was all over Paul's 2008 campaign doing something allegedly "illegal" because they had left over money. It turned out to be legal what was done with the leftover money. This wasn't the first one either. I recall another which turned out to be a non-issue. Banyon sounds like an over zealous prosecutor.

Doug Stafford, Jesse Benton, John Tait, and Mark Mix all have direct lines from Ron to Rand, they also have ties to the national right to work committee. This all involves one little cabal that is used to playing fast and loose.

Doug Stafford, Jesse Benton, John Tait, and Mark Mix all have direct lines from Ron to Rand, they also have ties to the national right to work committee. This all involves one little cabal that is used to playing fast and loose.

In your opinion so far, there was some "cabal" Ron was involved in. I'll admit I haven't read a lot about it to date but it doesn't mean Ron was "knowingly" offering some "bribe" or part of a "cabal." That part smells. In fact, I thought you guys weren't into "conspiracy theories?" You establishment types are just dying to get something on Ron Paul. He's still more honest than the cruds you guys support who tell lies that destroy nations and even economies.

BTW, I thought you guys agreed with the radicals on the Supreme Court that campaign money is speech?

“An elected official admitted that he accepted under-the-table payments from a campaign committee to secure his support and services for a candidate in the 2012 presidential election,” said Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. “Campaign finance reports should be accurate and transparent, not tools for concealing campaign expenditures. Lying by public officials – whether intended to obstruct the FEC or federal investigators – violates the public trust and the law, and the Department of Justice does not tolerate it.”

Really?

__________________

"As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind I'd still be in prison."